2001 ICC Trophy
| champions = | count = 1st | participants = 12 | matches_played = | attendance = | player_of_the_series = Roland Lefebvre | most_runs = Daniel Keulder (366) | most_wickets = Roland Lefebvre (20) Soren Vestergaard (20) | official_website = | previous = 1997 ICC Trophy | next = 2005 ICC Trophy }} The 2001 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Ontario, Canada in 2001. It was the qualifying tournament for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Three spots in the World Cup were on offer and the Netherlands, Canada and, for the first time, Namibia all qualified. Group stage The first round group stage saw a unique two division format, designed to eliminate the mismatches that had blighted previous ICC Trophy tournaments. Each division had two groups of six teams, making 24 teams in total. However, Italy withdrew before the tournament started in protest after Joe Scuderi was ruled ineligible despite being an Italian citizen. West Africa also withdrew, for unknown reasons, leaving one of the Division Two groups with just four teams. The top three teams from the first round Division One groups went through to the Super League stage, whilst the fourth place team in each group played off against the winners of the Division Two groups. Points Tables Play off stage In the first play off, Bermuda played the winners of Division Two, Group A, Namibia. Namibia batted first and scored 221, then bowled Bermuda out for 146 for a 75 run win, and qualification for the Super League. In the other play-off, the UAE beat Uganda. Super League stage The teams qualifying from the first round took through their points from their first round matches against their fellow qualifiers, and played matches against teams from the opposite first round group. Namibia took Bermuda's points gained in those matches. The top two teams in the super league group played the final, and the third and fourth teams played off for the final World Cup qualification spot. Points table Final The final was a close game played at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club on 15 June 2001. Namibia batted first and scored 195/9 from their 50 overs. Gavin Murgatroyd top scored with 50, whilst Tim de Leede was the pick of the Dutch bowlers with 3/47. Klaas-Jan van Noortwijk scored 50, and Jacob-Jan Esmeijer an unbeaten 58 to help the Netherlands reach the target, which they did on the last ball of the match. They had required 3 runs off the final delivery and an inside edge from Esmeijer which went to short fine leg was misfielded allowing the Dutch to get the 3rd run. Controversially they actually had one more ball than they were entitled after the umpires mistakenly gave their 26th over seven balls. 3rd place play off The 3rd place play off was played at the same venue as the final on 17 July 2001. Scotland batted first and scored 176/9 from their 50 overs, with Canada's Sanjayan Thuraisingam taking five wickets for 25 runs. Canada cruised to the target in the 40th over, with Ishwar Maraj top scoring with 50. Canada thus qualified for their first World Cup since 1979. See also *ICC Trophy *2003 Cricket World Cup External links *2001 ICC Trophy page at Cricket Archive Category:ICC World Cup Qualifier